Somewhere in the desert- same day

'Well, Obi-Wan?' Qui-Gon asked once his apprentice had inspected the remains of Meera's ship.

'It's very badly damaged, Master. It'll take a while to repair.'

'That's obvious, you polka-dotted idiot,' Meera snapped. 'I could've told you that myself. The question is- can we repair it?'

'Of course we can. By some stroke of luck none of the main systems were damaged, so we don't need to go hunting for hyper drive generators or anything like that. And don't call me an idiot,' Obi-Wan shot back. 'At least I can fix a control panel.'

'I'd like to see you restore memories without full Healer training-'

'Quiet, both of you!' Qui-Gon shouted. 'We'll accomplish nothing by arguing. Now, Obi-Wan, what exactly can we fix?'

'The hole in the hull,' his apprentice replied. 'We could take some of the extra plating from those sweeps on the nacelles. They're only decorative. Say, this looks like a Nubian, Meera, how did you-'

'I borrowed it.' Her tone advised that pain would follow any further inquiries.

'I see. Did you also 'borrow' an electro spanner?'

'Probably one in the toolkit. Unfortunately most of the cockpit's buried under sand- must've been a storm recently. Never mind, I'll get it out somehow.'

'I'll help you then,' Obi-Wan said, a gentleman against all the odds. He turned to Qui-Gon. 'Master, you stay here. You need to rest, not go digging around in sand.'

'You have your orders I see,' Scully remarked wryly as both Padawans disappeared into the front of the downed craft.

Mulder started forwards. 'I should help-' he moved towards the tear in the hull.

A sudden flurry of sand came shooting out, followed by a shout.

'Keep out of here, Mulder!' it was Obi-Wan. 'There's not a lot of room in here!'

Mulder backed off, grinning. 'Hey Qui-Gon, anything to get marooned in a cockpit with a girl apprentice, huh?'

The Jedi Master gave him a sly grin and a wink. 'I train my Padawan well.'

Both agents smothered a snicker as Obi-Wan was propelled forcefully from the ship, followed by a small rectangular container- hopefully the toolkit- and a very irate Meera.

'You men are all the same!'

He straightened and looked plaintively at her. 'I slipped on the sand!'

Now it was Qui-Gon's turn to hide a grin. 'Did you find the tools?'

'Yes, Master.' Obi-Wan held up the case. 'Buried under the navigation panel, but we managed to get it out.' He looked at Meera. 'Are you going to help or not?'

She stopped scowling and nodded. 'Of course I will. Wouldn't want you wearing yourself out, would I?'

When Qui-Gon started to follow them to the breach, both apprentices pushed him back towards Scully.

'No, Master, you need to rest and recover.'

'I never trust an injured man with an electro spanner.'

Leaving him there, they walked around to the other side of the ship.

Scully sat down on the car hood and regarded Qui-Gon speculatively.

'For all the authority of an official rank, you still take orders from your own apprentice.'

'I feel like a criminal,' he responded, 'Watching other people work.'

'You'll get used to it,' Mulder said, then ducked as Scully glared at him.

By the time the sun was beginning to dip below the horizon, Obi-Wan and Meera had still not finished. Scully touched Qui-Gon's shoulder.

'We'll get you back to the Gunmen. The last thing you need is to aggravate that head wound staying up all night watching those two work.'

'Head wound?' Qui-Gon looked at her, and she blinked. There was not even a remnant of the scar on his head- it was completely gone.

'How do you do that?'

'Jedi are able to concentrate our energies entirely on the task at hand. Instead of sunbathing today, I was actually focussing my will on healing the wound.'

'Oh.' Scully thought a moment. 'How serious does a wound have to be before a Jedi can't deal with it like that?'

'That depends upon the ability of the Jedi in question. One of the Council, for instance, would be able to heal more than, say, Obi-Wan or Meera.'

'Well, what about you personally?'

'I've never been in such a situation before. But as long as I'm conscious I've never yet found something I couldn't handle. Then again, I've never tried limb regeneration, though I've heard stories.'

'I see.' Scully couldn't think what else to say to that. The mere thought of being able to heal oneself through sheer willpower was almost unbelievable. And yet- here was the evidence, right in front of her.

Suddenly Obi-Wan appeared, his face covered with sweat and what looked like grease.

'The hull's closed. We've got the generators running, and Meera says that basic systems are intact. We'll just have to figure out how to get it out of all this sand.'

Meera came into view, equally grubby, carrying the toolkit. 'You're lethal with a spanner, Obi-Wan. Pity those Nubian issue kits don't include micro welders, so we had to melt-seal the hole with our lightsabres.'

'Good improvisation,' Qui-Gon remarked. 'Stand clear, and we'll get this out of the sand, then.'

'Master, are you sure you're-' Obi-Wan began anxiously.

'It won't kill me, Padawan. Just get out of the way. And be ready to catch in case I do drop it.'

Scully and Mulder cast doubtful looks at each other.

'What's he going to do, lift it?' Mulder hissed.

Qui-Gon took a deep breath, half-closed his eyes and extended a hand. The air pulsed. Then the buried ship began to shudder and lift until it was floating about ten feet from the ground, suspended without any visible intervention.

Then it slowly lowered onto the ground again, perfectly straight, and settled there quietly.

Mulder and Scully stood there, speechless, with their mouths open.

Obi-Wan turned to his mentor, his eyes shining.

'Well, done, Master.'

'I seem to have recovered,' Qui-Gon responded, permitting himself the merest shadow of a smile.

'Did you do that using that Force?' asked Mulder in wonder

Qui-Gon smiled. 'Yes, that is one of the first exercises that a Jedi has to master, before moving on the more difficult things.'

'Right,' replied Mulder doubtfully.

'We must be going Master, the fact that the Council are looking for us, is worrying,' said Obi-Wan

'Yes, my Padawan, we must go.' Then, turning to Mulder and Scully, ' Thank you for all your help I hope you don't get into too much trouble over losing us.' He grasped first Scully's and then Mulder's hand.

'My thanks again, my friends.' Turning, he began to walk towards the ship.

Mulder suddenly remembered. 'Wait up, Qui-Gon, you've forgotten your equipment.' He ran to the car gathering up the lightsaber, communication device and holoprojector, and then sprinted back to the waiting Jedi.

'Nearly forgot! Here's all your bits, holo thing, communication device and the lightsaber thing,' As Mulder handed over the lightsaber his hand slipped and hit the activator. The weapon sprung to life. Obi-Wan and Meera leapt forward, their lightsabres out to block the unrestrained blade in Mulder's hands. Qui-Gon sprung out of danger and turned to face Mulder.

'Relax Mulder, don't fight it, just let the Force take control, feel with your heart and not your head.'

Mulder gained control of the blade and it hummed in his hands. His face split into a grin.

'Wow, this is absolutely incredible, it feels like the sword is part of my arm.'

The Jedi smiled.

'Yes, you were right Master, they are strong in the Force,' said Obi-Wan.

'You did that deliberately! you could easily have stopped that happening,' Meera exclaimed.

'Yes, I could, but how else could I have repaid them for all the kindness they have shown me? Mulder, you now realise that you are strong in the Force, as are you, Scully. You both live in a haze of scepticism, but what you actually feel is the Force trying to show you the way. You must stop fighting it, and let your instincts guide your thinking. Be mindful of the Living Force.'

With that Qui-Gon reached across and deactivated the sabre, taking it from Mulder's hands and replacing it where it belonged on his belt. He folded in his hands into the sleeves of his robe and bowed.

'Good-bye my friends. May the Force be with you.' He turned and walked into the ship. Meera and Obi-Wan also bowed and followed the Jedi Master on board.

There was the sound of a build up of power, and the Nubian ship rose stealth like into the sky and was gone.

The two Agents stood staring into the darkening sky, looking for one last glimpse of the ship, and its strange occupants.

'Did that really happen Mulder?' Scully asked.

'I sure hope so, otherwise we've both had the weirdest dream ever.'

I'd like to say sorry for the long delay in posting this. First my computer died, big time, got the sweetheart virus and that was that. Had to buy a new one. Then to top it all off my Dad was rushed into hospital with a suspected stroke, which has now been diagnosed as bacterial meningitis. So if any of you readers have the faith for it I would really appreciate your prays. His name is Ron if that helps. Thanks Linwe Seregon